Category: Management

It could happen. I saw this issue couple of times, not only on domain controllers, but also on other domain joined computers.

The cause of this problem is the Network Location Awareness service. We know, that this service is recognising network location based on gateway and is trying to locate AD server thru port 389. Well, when gateway is changed or no server connection true port 389 is available, we have a new network location – by default it is Public.

Anyway, it can happened that NLA service starts before the AD services are started (or before DC is reachable on a non DC server). In this case, we will have public network profile on DC or domain joined computers. If firewall is enabled, most of network services will not run as the firewall for the Public profile is almost closed.
We have few possibilities to solve this situation. Maybe the most simple way is to restart the server, but I don’t know if I can restart the server at this moment and what was the original cause of the problem – maybe it will reappear. The second option is to disable / reenable the NIC adapter and in most cases, it will solve the issue. We will get the same result if we just restart the NLA service – this is a better way.
In some cases, you cannot connect to the computer for some reason. In this case, I use PowerShell remote session to solve the problem.

Here are the steps:Enter-PSSession ComputerName (establish connection to computer with the problem)Get-NetConnectionProfile (this will show you your current location profile – if this is the source of the problem, the location will not be Domain)Restart-Service nlasvc (this cmdlet will restart NLA service; after this step you should see Domain network profile)Get-NetConnectionProfile (just to check if the solution works)

Exit-PSSession (disconnect form the remote computer)

Based on my experience, this solution works always. Some administrators also suggest to change start option for NLA service to Automatic (Delayed Start). I am not sure if this is a good solution; be careful with it. Maybe you can do it in cases where this error is frequent (better: search for the original cause and solve the problem)

Well as I know many users are trying to find Windows key with some key viewer software. Nothing wrong, but this software is not always “nice” and can do something else than just show you a key. Of course, with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 you have many times a key in BIOS, so there is no need to search for it.
Anyway, if you feel better when you have a key printed on a piece of paper, you can do that simply with one PowerShell cmdlet:

Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’

This will show you more than only a key. There are a lot of information on licensing, like KMS server, OS version, … In some cases it can be useful.

If anyone tries to install the new Microsoft ADK (for Windows 10 Version 1703 – 10.1.15063) on Windows server 2016, you receive the error that a driver is not digitally signed. Well, Microsoft drivers are not signed? Something is wrong…
Actually, according to this post, they really have a problem and there is a workaround with disabling the secure boot. But this is not recommended and is not aligned with best practices – so you don’t want to do it.
Anyway, this is the only way you can install ADK on server 2016 and I did it. I have removed the previous (broken) installation, disabled Secure boot and reinstalled ADK. After a successful installation, I reenabled Secure boot and things still went wrong. I was unable to mount ADK boot image (to use in SCCM or MDT). Well, in this post it is explained another workaround (yes, I know…). Set the registry as is explained and it should work. I just hope that all other functionalities in ADK now are working OK.

Of course you have heard about the new malware, which yesterday created a lot of problems in industry. Unfortunately it is not an unknown problem.
Microsoft released a patch for this type of vulnerability already in March, but it seems once again that administrators are not patching their systems.
So, if you haven’t patched your systems at least every month, if you haven’t patched your system from March, is time to do it. And don’t forget to have a good defense system (antivirus and other prevention mechanisms). Update them to!
You can find additional information in this link.

Here is a link to post how was neutralized and who did this.
Anyway, we have already a version 2.0; you can read about this version here.
Again, please patch your systems! This update will solve a vulnerability. And don’t forget: this is not the first malware who was written on known vulnerability – patch your systems constantly!
Additionally, please disable SMB1 protocol – it is not new that it is not secure. Here and here are some guidelines how to do it via GPO.

This will be a step by step process to migrate Active Directory Certificate Services from one server to another in same domain. It is a case when you upgrade or change your server where CA is installed.
You have to know some basic things before you begin to migrate a CA server:

It is recommended that the new server has the same name as old one – this because we have CRL and other paths in certificates. If this name is not accessible, we can’t control the validity of the certificate.

This is not a migration from one server to another; we have to export all settings and backups from the old server, demount it and after this install the new one with the same name. Errors and mistakes are not allowed.

Do the migration slowly, take your time, document everything. You will need all the documentation during the migration and supporting period.

In this guide, you will find steps to migrate one server. If you have a more complicated environment with more servers and subordinary CAs, then you need plans for migration of the entire migration before you start the migration.

Source server
First take full backup of the entire server. This step is non mandatory, but you may need it if something goes wrong.

After this check and write down the server name, IP address (if is static), paths where CA database and CRL are located. You will need this data to restore the same configuration on the new server.

Now, the crucial step is to make a backup of all certificates, certificate templates, settings, databases, root CA and registry settings. Unfortunately, CA backup does not care about all settings – it will backup only the CA database. Steps that are required to be able to transfer the entire configuration are:

Check all the roles that are installed (CA, CA Web enrolment…) because you will need to install the same roles on the destination server.

In MMC (mmc.exe) open the Certificate Authority snap in and take a screenshot or write down the names of certificate templates you are using. When you will install the new server, you will have to enable same templates. You can export all certificate template names also with command certutil.exe –catemplates > D:\Backup\catemplates.txtfrom administrative Command prompt. This step is required only if you are using enterprise CA.

Now, that we have the CA opened in MMC, we can also use it to backup CA database. To do this right click on CA server name, go to All tasks and select Back up CA. Follow the wizard and be careful that you select Private key and CA certificate and Certificate database and certificate database log check boxes. Only in this way you will backup all data that we need.

Record your CAs CSP and signature algorithm. This can be done by executing command certutil.exe –getreg ca\csp\* > d:\Backup\csp.txt from administrative Command prompt. There will be nothing to do later if you are using default algorithms, but is always better to check.

Export the registry keys: on destination server you will need to have the same settings as you had on source, so you need to export registry separately because this is not a part of CA backup procedure. Open Regedit.exe and navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CertSvc\Configuration. Right click to key and save it to file.

If you are using custum policy, you should include it into backup. This means that you have to copy the file CAPolicy.infthat is located in C:\Windows(System root folder).

Review all steps to check if they are done correctly!

Using server manager remove CA roles from the server and restart the server.

Remove server from domain, restart it and at the end turn it off. If you have other roles on the same server, you also have to move them on other servers. From this point your old server is down – you don’t need it anymore.

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About me

I am working in IT for more than 10 years, concerning most of my time with small companies. A result of this work is a good knowledge of problems and products used in that companies, like Windows Small Business Server, System Center Essentials, Windows OS ecc.
I lead a Slovenian SBS Community on Microsoft, I am Microsft MVP for Cloud and Datacenter (2012 – 2018).
In my privat life I like listen to rock music, archery and constructing biiig houses with Lego cubes – of course with my son!